"You won't find a more devoted supporter of the Bourne franchise than me" a statement begins from Paul Greengrass to Variety, explaining his decision to move on from the Universal franchise and not return to direct a fourth movie. "I will always be grateful to have been the caretaker to Jason Bourne over the course of 'The Bourne Supremacy' and 'The Bourne Ultimatum.' I'm very proud of those films and feel they express everything I most passionately believe about the possibility of making quality movies in the mainstream. My decision to not return a third time as director is simply about feeling the call for a different challenge. There's been no disagreement with Universal Pictures".The opportunity to work with the Bourne family again is a difficult thing to pass up, but we have discussed this together and they have been incredibly understanding and supportive. I've been lucky enough to have made four films for Universal, and our relationship continues. Jason Bourne existed before me and will continue, and I hope to remain involved in some capacity as the series moves on."Yesterday we caught wind from The Playlist that Greengrass had departed, presumably (and who can blame him really if it was the case) over the "parallel script" situation and that the relationship between Greengrass and Universal had become strained because of the director's shooting philosophy of "it'll all work out in the editing room" which usually sees him end up over budget, and over time because of re-shoots and extensive post-production. If that is indeed the case, Greengrass ain't saying it and I guess we can officially now say that he has moved on, and he won't be coming back. This isn't just a spat, a toys out of the pram situation; this is a parting of ways, a worst case scenario for Universal who must now come up with a Plan-B that will please star Matt Damon, otherwise the franchise could be doomed. I imagine a sense of panic has set in at Universal as the Bourne series makes too much money for then to just let it die, even though creatively, you would think it would be better off put to bed after a fitting end to a very good trilogy. WHO WILL DIRECT BOURNE IV? Variety predict that Greg Nolfi, the co-screenwriter of The Bourne Ultimatum, could step into the director's chair after striking a relationship with Damon on The Adjustment Bureau, the big budget sci-fi actioner they are shooting together right now at the same studio. The move would definitely keeps things in the family, and would likely please Damon but as Universal were never struck on Nolfi's original draft for Bourne IV, and going so far as to hiring someone else to write a completely different screenplay for the same movie, it's unlikely he would be given such a mass job promotion to direct this. Doug Liman, the director of The Bourne Identity knows the franchise is out of his depth, and is likely to be happy taking a "sitback and watch" producing capacity, as he has done for the previous two movies. Though the offer will be tempting when it comes, and it inevitably will. A Tony Gilroy directed Bourne IV would be something I would be majorly interested in, but after Duplicity made no money for Universal earlier this year, a case of bad timing could sour his chances but I'm sure Universal will remember the great job he has done on scripting all the movies in the series so far. The incredible Dan Bradley, unquestionably the best stunt coordinator in the business, was recently drafted to the Bond franchise after his incredible work on the Bourne movies, and is right now making his first directorial movie with the remake of Red Dawn. He knows the Bourne series inside out, it's hard to imagine his name not being in the frame for this, though Universal might just play the wait and see over how that movie turns out. Looking outside of the direct Bourne family and into the second cousin tree, there's gotta be a big shout for Stephen Soderbergh to helm, if he could find it in his schedule. Soderbergh is great friends with Tony Gilroy, and more importantly Matt Damon having worked with him on the Ocean's series and The Informant!. I would love to see what he could do with this franchise but his schedule is always full, but he could make waves for this. Other guys I would like to see... Chris Nolan (though they would never get him), Tom Tyker (the series is a little in debt to him, the first movie especially is heavily inspired by Run Lola Run, but his recent move to Hollywood with The International was a misfire) and Marc Foster (Quantum of Solace director).